Mazed and Confused
by CountryGrl
Summary: The Doctor finds himself, four times, actually, trapped in a maze, being chased by a rather peckish hairy monster. None of him are best pleased, and neither are Ace, Rose, Donna or Amy. Multi!Doctor fic, Seven/Nine/Ten/Eleven!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I was in a supermarket, thinking about how much I was looking forward to watching Doctor Who that night, as you do, when I came up with an idea that my mind then promptly ran away with...**

**I've never tried a multi-Doctor story before, and since I've not seen a whole lot of classic!Who I've stuck with the Doctors I'm most familiar with - Seven, Nine, Ten and Eleven, and my favourite companion of each one. This has been a lot of fun to write, and I hope you enjoy reading it...**

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

**MAZED AND CONFUSED:**

**PROLOGUE**

He had never known his father, who'd died just before he was born. Growing up, he'd loved his mother, of course, but always felt that there was something missing. A gap that had stayed with him all through his childhood and into adulthood, and he vowed that should he ever have a child, he or she would never feel so...empty.

He was excited when she told him she was expecting. He was ecstatic when they discovered they were going to have a son.

He was devastated when they told him his son would never be able to walk.

He whispered to the newborn baby that his daddy would do anything - _anything - _to change that.

**ONE**

Amy had accepted the fact that the TARDIS was bigger on the inside, but just _how _big she didn't think she'd ever know. She'd been 'exploring' for a while now and still got the feeling she hadn't seen the half of it. In fact, she was beginning to think she'd never find the console room again when suddenly, there was the door in front of her, as if she'd gone round in a massive circle.

Shrugging, she entered, only to find the Doctor with a stethoscope pressed to the console, stroking it and cooing softly.

''What's the matter with you, eh? What's wrong?''

''Doctor, what are you doing?'' she asked, hoping the explanation would be...rational.

''There's something wrong with the TARDIS,'' he replied, not looking at her, ''Listen to that.''

She raised her eyebrows. ''To what?''

He stood up now, sharply, stepped towards her. ''That. The groaning noise, can't you hear it?''

Amy stiffened, trying to concentrate, ''Yeah, sort of. Faintly, like it's a long way off.''

''Mm, your psychic link with the TARDIS isn't as strong as mine,'' the Doctor mused, ''I can hear it loud and clear. Here, hold still.''

He pressed two fingers to her forehead, closed his eyes. After a moment Amy staggered back, the sudden rush of something very strong overcoming her, a loud noise droning in her ears. ''Whoa.'' she breathed, ''That _is _loud. So, what, is the TARDIS in pain?''

''Seems likely,'' said the Doctor, spinning on the spot and going back to press his ear to the console. ''But why?''

Amy waved her hands vaguely in a way which suggested she had no idea why a complicated sentient timespace machine might be groaning in pain. Which of course, she didn't.

''It's like...Like she's being pulled towards somewhere she doesn't want to go to,'' the Doctor murmured, ''Like it's dragging her in.''

''Why?'' Amy asked.

''I don't know,'' he admitted. ''Hmm, only one way to find out.''

''Which is?''

''Land her. Hold on tight!''

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Donna had been surprised to discover that Earth was not the only planet to have invented toasters. As it was, the planet Revija had just proved this beyond any shadow of a doubt when its parliament had attempted to shove her and the Doctor into its giant, _deadly _one. They'd escaped -just- and were now stopping for breath outside the city, backs leaning against a wall.

''That,'' said the Doctor triumphantly, ''was brilliant!''

Donna wiped the sweat from her forehead - she'd been running away from four-armed guards for quite a while, besides which they'd been running _through _a tunnel which was growing slowly hotter and hotter as the machine prepared to 'toast' them. ''Was it?'' she asked, wearily. ''Which part was that, then, the part when we were nearly burnt to death, or the part when we were nearly _speared _by a load of angry guards?''

''The part when we escaped, of course!'' he said, grinning. ''You've got to admit, that was pretty brilliant. One of my best plans ever, actually. Don't you think? Donna?''

He looked around, but his companion was nowhere to be seen. And before he could say...well, anything at all really, he realised, with some annoyance, that he was being teleported.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rose's head hurt. That was the first thing she was aware of, the feeling that she'd just been hit over the head with a rather large rock. The second thing she noticed was the Doctor, on his knees in front of her, sonic screwdriver pointed rather worryingly at her face.

''Ah,'' he said, ''You're awake. Hello.''

''Hello,'' she said, wondering why her voice sounded so groggy, ''What happened?'' She sat up, slowly, hands to her head in case it should suddenly fall off.

His face was level with hers now, eyes narrowed in confusion, ''We were teleported.''

''Teleported?''

''Yes.'' he sprang to his feet, the blur of motion making Rose's eyes swim momentarily out of focus. ''I'm an old hand, didn't affect me much, but you're human, messed with your brain a bit. Are you all right?''

Vaguely wondering if any of that sentence could have been an insult, Rose nodded. ''I think so. Just a bit...woozy.''

He took her hands, pulled her gently to her feet. ''It'll wear off. Meanwhile...'' he held up the sonic screwdriver again, scanning for...something, she didn't know what, ''Where are we?''

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . **

''Looks like some sort of _cave_, Professor,'' said Ace, struggling to take in the sudden change of scenery. ''A tunnel, maybe.''

The Doctor was running his hand down the smooth walls of their new surroundings, frowning. ''You could be right, Ace,'' he said, ''One thing's certain, we're not on Teba any more.''

''Shame, that,'' she went to join him on the other side of the...whatever they were in. ''I was quite enjoying that sunbath thing, and suddenly we end up here. What happened?''

The Doctor shook his head, ''I don't know. Here, feel the wall.''

Ace pressed the palm of her hand against the patch of wall in front of her, and immediately wished she hadn't. ''It's hot!'' she exclaimed, pulling it back quickly.

''Yes,'' the Doctor mused. ''And that can mean only one thing.''

She turned to look at him. ''What's that?''

''I haven't the faintest idea,'' he replied, suddenly noticing an opening in the wall over to their right. He walked towards it, and disappeared into the blackness beyond. She could faintly hear him calling, ''Come on, Ace!'' before she ran to catch him up.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . **

The TARDIS landed even more violently than usual, and Amy found herself on the floor, collapsed in a rather undignified heap. Once the shaking and juddering had ceased, she stood up, just in time to see the Doctor dashing past towards the door, yelling at her to hurry up and follow.

She stepped through the door after him, and into a dimly-lit, low-ceilinged tunnel. The light, what little there was, seemed to be coming not from a bulb or flame, but from a strange dull glow off the walls.

''So? Where are we?'' she asked, used to the Doctor's fine-tuned sense of the universe by now.

But all he did was shake his head. ''I don't know. This place...it's like it's cut off from time, the TARDIS didn't know where we were either. But that's impossible.''

Amy stepped forward, spotting something over to their left. ''Look, Doctor, the tunnel goes on through here. There's an entrance.''

''Someone knows we're here, Amy,'' he continued, as if he hadn't heard her. ''More than that, someone brought us here, something powerful - believe me, not just anything can pull the TARDIS out of the vortex like that, you'd need an enormous amount of power...''

''Doctor, come on, through here!'' Amy had stepped through the gap now, could just hear his voice.

''So what do they want us for, eh? Why bring us to a tunnel instead of straight to their doorstep?''

Amy sighed, turned back and joined him again.

''Unless...they're testing us. This tunnel must lead somewhere. Amy, look, behind you, a gap in the wall. It must carry on through there.''

Amy rolled her eyes, ''That's what I've been trying to tell you.''

''Well, talk louder then. Come on!'' he strode through the entrance, Amy close behind and wondering how long it would be before she hit him.

They continued along the tunnel until they came to a fork - three possible paths, all exactly identical, and were just arguing over which one to follow when there was a sound behind them.

''That,'' said the Doctor, hand still pointing firmly to the left-hand tunnel, ''Didn't sound good.''

''Nope,'' Amy agreed, ''It didn't.''

''That,'' the Doctor continued, as the sound came again, ''Sounded distinctly like the roar of a rather large monster. And yes - I'd say those are its footsteps.''

''Coming towards us.''

''Yes.''

''Run!''

And they did. Just not in the same direction.

_**Reviews are love! :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Forgive me? If it makes any difference, I have been extraordinarily busy with exams and the end of school and then my best friend ever so kindly exploded my brain...so FF hasn't exactly been at the top of my priority list recently. It's still no excuse for such a hideously late update, but I swear I'm back now. In other news, THANK YOU ALL for such lovely reviews, and I'm sorry I didn't reply to them all. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

**

* * *

**

**TWO**

Once Rose's head felt a little less...scrambled, they began walking. She knew the Doctor had no idea where they were going, and she knew that he knew that she knew that, but he'd said that the only way to find out who'd brought them here was to go and find them, so that was the plan for the moment.

Thinking in long sentences made her head hurt.

They'd followed the tunnel where it branched off to the right, and were just rounding a bend when they heard footsteps, rushing towards them, and a voice shouting "RUN!"

Rose stiffened, wondering if they were about to discover who had brought them to this place, and suddenly the person was upon them – a tall man wearing a tweed jacket and a bowtie, dashing past without looking at them and yelling "Run!" once more at the top of his lungs.

Then there came a monstrous roar and as the Doctor grabbed her arm Rose realised that the newcomer's idea wasn't half bad. She ran.

* * *

Once Amy realised that the 'monster' – whatever it was – wasn't following her, she slowed her pace a little, still fast but less of the break-neck speed, which must have been named for a reason.

She realised it was likely that whatever they'd heard roaring was now following the Doctor, and it worried her, but she could hardly turn back and help him now. If he had any sense, which he appeared to sometimes, he'd be turning bends and doubling back trying to give the beast the slip, and by the looks of these tunnels she'd never be able to find him again. No, she'd keep going, and perhaps find out who'd brought them to this place and why they had a raging monster on the loose.

She kept running until she realised her footsteps weren't the only sounds in the tunnel. Not far ahead she could spot two silhouettes, a man and a woman, who by the sounds of it were arguing loudly.

"I'm going to kill you, Spaceman," the woman's voice said, "We escape from one tunnel and the next thing we're inside another one, where _are _we anyway?"

"How should I know?" came a man's voice. "We were teleported – I couldn't have caused it if I'd wanted to!"

At this point, the woman must have heard Amy approaching, for she stopped and turned around. "Hello – are you lost as well?"

Amy nodded, taking in the woman in front of her – medium height, smart-casual clothes, hair a similar colour to her own. "Yeah," she said, "I was with my friend – we got split up. Something was chasing us. I'm Amy, by the way."

"Donna," said the woman, grinning, "and this is the Doctor."

* * *

Rose had had a lot of practise in running lately, meaning she could keep up with the Doctor and the other man easily. They slipped round corners and ducked under low archways, until finally they could no longer hear the heavy, thudding footsteps of whatever had been after them.

They slowed to a walk, the bowtie man still striding ahead of Rose and the Doctor. "What were we running from?" she asked no-one in particular.

The man in front of them stopped short, turned to face them. "I don't know," he said. "Didn't wait to see, but it sounded like-Hold on..." he trailed off, gazing in wonder at the two of them, as if noticing them for the first time. "Are you...? You are, aren't you? Oh, you are."

The Doctor looked at Rose and shrugged. Turning back to the man, he said, "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose, and we've never seen you before in our lives. Don't take it personal, our lives don't always happen in the right order – we haven't met you yet."

The man was still gaping at them. "Oh, this is marvellous! Or as you might say, 'fantastic'. I love it when this happens!"

Rose frowned, "What, when you stop in the middle of running away from a monster to have a chat with someone you've never met before?"

"Oh, Rose Tyler, we've met before all right," the man said, gazing at her intently. "And you!" he turned his head to face the Doctor, "Don't you know who I am yet?"

The Doctor looked nonplussed. "Nope! Never seen you before in my life."

"Well, that's true enough..." said the other man, straightening his bowtie and reaching out to shake hands, "I'm the Doctor."

* * *

The Doctor and Ace had been walking through tunnels for a bit too long for her liking. "Got any clues yet, Professor?" she asked.

"Patience, Ace," he replied. "I think I might know where we are – or at least, what we are _inside._"

"Well?"

"I think," said the Doctor, tapping his umbrella against the wall of the tunnel they were walking down, "We are in a maze."

"A maze? What, like the ones made out of hedges and stuff?"

"Well, yes," the Doctor conceded, "Except this one's made from something else entirely, and it's giving off a substantial amount of heat. If the maze is the right shape and that heat is channelled properly it could create a huge amount of power..."

"Like an engine, you mean?"

"Exactly, Ace!" he quickened his pace suddenly. "The question is, who built it – and why bring us here?"

* * *

"But... But..."

Amy was standing in front of the two strangers, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

"Are you all right?" the woman – Donna – asked.

Amy nodded. "Yeah...just...it must be a coincidence, my friend uses the same name."

"Where is your friend?" the man asked, gazing at the tunnel behind her, "You said you got separated?"

"Something was following us," she told him, "he ran one way, and I ran the other. I lost him."

"What sort of something?"

"I don't know, a big growly something. We didn't wait long enough to see it, we were too busy running."

"Oh, well, this is just brilliant!" Donna interjected, "We're in a dark, yucky tunnel being chased by a monster, this couldn't get any more _typical_. Wish we had the TARDIS so we could go somewhere a bit less-"

Amy cut her off, "How do you know about the TARDIS?"

"You what?" Donna said, shaking her head. "It's his ship, the Doctor's. Looks like a-"

"Big blue box?" Amy completed the sentence.

"Well, yes."

"It belongs to my friend," Amy said slowly, "What have you done with it?"

Donna looked like she was about to reply when the tall man next to her said, "That's not the most important question right now."

Amy rolled her eyes. "So what is?"

The man looked at both women and finally said, "How come everyone gets to be ginger except me?"

* * *

"You're the who?"

"The Doctor."

"Don't be stupid, _I'm _the Doctor."

"Yes, yes you are. And so am I. Don't you get it yet? I. Am. You."

Rose stared at the two men, one gaping in disbelief and the other grinning madly. "Yeah, I'm not getting any of this – so you do know each other after all?"

The Doctor – _her _Doctor, turned to her, an unreadable expression on his face. "Rose...meet my future self."

"Your what?"

"We're the same man," the _other _Doctor said, "But I changed my form. Twice, actually. Still the same person, though, got all the memories. Hello, Rose. I did miss you."

"Hello," she said, warily, looking at her Doctor for confirmation.

"It's true," he told her. "Time Lords have this...trick. We can cheat death by regenerating every cell in our body, we start over a new life, but it means we end up with a different face."

"And a different dress sense," the other Doctor added, eying his former self's jacket critically. "Why did I ever think leather was a good idea?"

"Leather," said Rose's Doctor, "is good. Bowties, on the other hand..."

"Bowties are cool! What's everyone got against bowties?"

Rose shook her head, "Right, so, let me get this straight, you're, like – the same person but in different bodies, yeah?"

"Yes." They both said together.

"But," she reasoned, "When I went back to see my dad, you said if two versions of the same person touch, it causes a paradox which destroys worlds and stuff. And you two just shook hands."

"Time Lord genes," said her Doctor. "Humans were never meant to travel in time, but for us – _me –_ it's part of the job description. Different set of rules."

The other Doctor suddenly looked serious, as if a thought had just struck him. "There's something else, though. I don't remember being here before. I should remember having the other side of this conversation when I was you – but I don't. I should know exactly what you're about to say and what I'll reply, but I-"

"Shut up a minute," said Rose's Doctor.

The other looked faintly surprised, "Though I could've guessed you'd say that."

Rose's Doctor shook his head. "Something's rearranging the timelines. Something very powerful. Probably the same something that brought us here. Were you teleported, too?"

"No, we came in the TARDIS," said the other Doctor. "But not by choice. We were dragged to this time zone."

" 'We'?" asked Rose's Doctor quizzically.

The other Doctor suddenly opened his eyes, wide. "Amy!"

* * *

He watched them on the screens, dithering about in the tunnels, not one of them noticing the tiny cameras watching their every move. He watched without a hint of a smile or a frown. Years of this solitude had made outward displays of emotion rather pointless, but in his heart he allowed himself a glimmer of hope.

They were heroes, after all. Perhaps, this time, one of them would be able to help.

**

* * *

**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are love! **


	3. Chapter 3

**THREE**

They were still walking, and Ace's feet were beginning to hurt. "How much further, Professor?"

"I'm not sure," he mused, "If the answers to our questions are to be found at the centre of the maze, and I don't know that for sure, we should make our way there – but without a map of the place I've no way of knowing which way we're going."

"Nice rhyme, Professor," said Ace. "So, what you're saying is for all we know, we could be walking round in circles?"

"That's entirely possible," said the Doctor. "Keep an eye out for anything noteworthy so we'll know if we pass the same way twice."

Ace had been walking slightly ahead of him, but now she stopped short, staring at something on the ground. "Well, _here's_ something we haven't passed already," she said, an odd tinge in her voice which alerted the Doctor that something was wrong. He quickly went to join her, and saw, to his horror, that on the floor in front of them was a half-eaten, slowly rotting, human corpse.

Ace's face was pale and the Doctor's grave. "We're not alone," he murmured, "Something's in the middle of having lunch."

"So where is it now?" Ace said softly, "and what disturbed it?"

Footsteps, heavy ones, came from behind them. A deafening roar filled the tunnel and the Doctor hastily pulled Ace by the arm into the shadows of the darkest part of it. "I think we're about to find out," he whispered.

Ace held her breath as the plodding footsteps grew gradually nearer. Eventually she could make out the outline of an enormous beast, wide-shouldered, with a huge head and a pair of sharp, curved horns which Ace would rather not get any closer to, thank you very much.

The beast dropped to its knees in front of the half-eaten corpse and started tearing the flesh apart ravenously, the sound of its hideous teeth gnashing together making Ace's skin crawl.

To her alarm, the Doctor began to inch slowly along the wall of the tunnel, still keeping to the shadows but growing ever closer to the colossal beast.

Silently he signalled for her to follow him, and, keeping her eyes on the monster, watchful for any sign that it had seen them, Ace did so.

They continued treading carefully until the Doctor decided they were far enough away not to be heard, and then they began to run.

* … * … * … *

After Donna slapped him, the man who claimed to be 'the Doctor' indignantly exclaimed that he was _envious _of the hair colour, not critical. "Ginger hair is brilliant!" he yelped, "I've never been ginger – ten heads and still not ginger!"

Donna looked at him, and Amy wondered if she was going to hit him again, but she didn't. "Ten heads? What kind of Martian _are _you?" she asked, sounding horrified.

The Doctor-imposter shrugged, scrunching up his face. "We-ell, Time Lords – we have this thing of changing our appearance, happens if we're about to die. Rewrites our entire biology, leaves us with new face, new teeth, new everything. This is my tenth body – still waiting on the ginger, but at least I got a mole this time around."

Both Donna and Amy stared at him for a moment in utter disbelief. Finally Amy spoke. "So, if you're the Doctor – and my friend's the Doctor, too – and you're both Time Lords with TARDISes…"

"Same TARDIS. Same Time Lord. It would appear so, yes." The 'other' Doctor finished.

Amy nodded. "I get it, now. You don't know me so you must be an earlier version than my Doctor."

"Seems likely," he agreed, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his greatcoat and continuing along the tunnel. "So, what do I look like now?"

Amy hesitated. "…Different," she said, wondering how to explain it. "Younger, I suppose, which doesn't make much sense if _you're_ the earlier version."

"Doesn't work like that," he said, "I looked my oldest in my first body, the age I appear to you is just another variable. What else?"

"Kind of – floppy hair."

The Doctor looked appalled. "Floppy?" His hands shot to his own hair, stroking it as if making sure it was still sticking up in its usual way.

Donna looked amused. "Is he still a skinny strip of alien nothing?" she asked Amy.

"Well, I don't know," Amy grinned, "He's quite all right, actually."

"Oh, yeah?" Donna looked even more amused. "Still wearing the old pinstripe, is he? I don't think he _ever _changes, y'know."

"No – tweed," Amy told her, "Tweed, braces and a bowtie."

This was too much for Donna, who now exploded into laughter. "Oh, spaceman!" she spluttered, "Can't wait to see that. Bet it looks – what's the word? – terrible!"

The Doctor merely gazed in bewilderment at the two women, both practically shaking with laughter by now, and couldn't help but get the feeling that the cause of their hilarity was somehow connected to him.

"All right, all right," he said, holding his hands up. "Laugh all you want, you think that's bad you should see the coat I once had. And that celery—"

Neither of them appeared to be listening to him, however. Sighing, he shook his head and carried on walking.

Soon the tunnel widened out into something more like a cave: a wider, much lighter space with three tunnels branching off it in addition to the one they'd come through.

"Hmm, this is a bit more roomy," Donna said, her laughter having subsided by now. "It's not exactly a mansion, but at least we can _see_.

"Always a plus," Amy said, with definite feeling.

The Doctor hastened for them to be quiet, pointing at the tunnel opposite theirs, from which echoing footsteps could be heard. "Someone's coming," he said.

* … * … * … *

Rose was so relieved to be able to stop running – something they'd been doing since bowtie Doctor had realised he'd left his friend behind – that at first she didn't notice the other three people occupying the cave they now found themselves in.

"Amy!" Bowtie Doctor rushed towards a tall red-haired woman and threw his arms around her, "Thought I'd lost you!"

Disentangling herself from his gangly limbs, the redhead – Amy – stepped back and said, "Doctor. Think I've _found _you."

She pointed to the man standing next to her, and Rose's eyes shifted to look at him – he was tall, and rather handsome, she noticed, dressed in a pinstripe suit, trainers and a long brown coat. Great hair, she thought, and brown eyes…

…which were staring straight back at her, as if they could hardly believe her existence. Gazing _into _her as if he knew her better than anyone, though she was almost certain – _newyear'sdaymanintheshadows _– that she'd never seen him before in her life.

"Rose," he said quietly, and his gaze was so intense that she didn't have spare brain cells to wonder how he knew her name…

The third unknown – another red-haired woman, shorter than the first and somewhat older, raised her voice then. "Right! I think we all need to do some introductions. Dunno about you," she said, apparently to Rose, "But it's making my head spin."

"Yes," came an unfamiliar, slightly Scottish-sounding voice from behind them, "I think some introductions will be necessary. Don't you, Ace?"


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: It's a LOT of dialogue, but it's an update! Get off, stop trying to bite me! ****Also, you'll notice I refer to the Doctors by their clothing, not by Seven, Nine etc. Because I thought, the companions wouldn't necessarily know what number their Doctor is, and I'm writing through them, so… Anyway. Review, my pretties? **

**

* * *

**

**FOUR**

Amid the general hubbub of bemused Doctors and companions expressing this bemusement, the One in the Bowtie stepped forward and clapped his hands together, broad smile on his face. "Right! First things first…"

"Oi!" said the older red-haired woman who'd spoken before, "Who put _you_ in charge?"

He appeared to smile fondly at her for a moment, before justifying, "Well, I think I'm right in saying that I'm the only one here who recognises everyone else, correct?"

The rest of them looked at each other, each spotting at least one unfamiliar face and mumbling in agreement.

Bowtie nodded. "Yes, well, I think that qualifies me to be, as Donna so aptly put it, 'in charge'. Now – raise your hand if you're the Doctor!"

Four hands were raised, Rose noticed – her Doctor's, of course, and Bowtie's, and Pinstripe's, and that of the umbrella-wielding newcomer, who was now spluttering in disbelief. "Nonsense!" he exclaimed, "Who are all of you?"

"Aw, come on," said Bowtie, shaking his head in mock-disappointment. "You can work it out. You're a Time Lord!"

"Well, yes, but—"

"And what do Time Lords do best?"

"Get into trouble?" suggested the young woman in a black bomber jacket.

Bowtie grinned widely. "Well, there is that," he said, "But on a more…genetic level?"

Understanding began to dawn on Umbrella's face. "Ah…"

Bowtie nodded, satisfied, then started pacing back and forth through the group. "Now, for some reason even I can't fathom – and as I'm sure all of me will agree, I'm pretty clever – four versions of me, the Doctor, have been brought to this…"

"Maze." Umbrella supplied.

Bowtie nodded approval. "Thank you. Or…thank me. Anyway! We're all here. Don't know why, come to that in a bit. Amy and I came in the TARDIS, not by choice, and the rest of you…?"

"Teleport," the other three said in unison.

Bowtie frowned. "From what year?"

"Thirty-three point seven slash apple slash twelve."

Three voices again. Bowtie narrowed his eyes. "All three of you – six of you – in the same time period? Same planet?"

"Rejiva."

"Teba."

"Satellite Nine."

"No, then," he mused. "Interesting. So maybe…wherever we are now, we're in thirty-three point seven slash apple slash twelve. That means you lot could be teleported across space… but as me and Amy have never been to this time, we had to come by TARDIS."

"Makes sense," Rose's Doctor conceded, though she could tell he wasn't best pleased that someone else had done the working out.

"Does it?" Donna countered. "Doesn't make much sense to me. Why would anyone want _four _of you?" she gestured to her Doctor, "One of him's enough trouble."

"Thanks," pinstripe said, mock-pouting.

"Trouble, yes, I'm good at trouble," Bowtie said, grin back in place. "You certainly wouldn't want four of me around if you were up to no good. However…"

"If you wanted help…" the question-mark-adorned Doctor continued,

"Then four lots of brilliance…" pinstripe added,

"Would be just what the Doctors ordered!" Rose's Doctor finished triumphantly. Rose rolled her eyes as the four Time Lords exchanged some sort of complicated four-way Gallifreyan equivalent of a high-five.

"Oh yes, all very good, nice word play," the young woman who'd arrived with Umbrella – Ace, was it? – said sarcastically, "Are you forgetting something? Big, hairy monster? Roaring and crashing and eating people?"

Her Doctor removed his hand from the tangle, "Actually, yes, that's true, on our way here, we saw a big…creature…"

"We were chased by one as well," Amy put in. "Maybe the same one."

"Mmm, I'd forgotten about our very loud friend," Bowtie agreed, "He's another piece of this puzzle but I can't fathom where he fits in."

"Maybe," Rose suggested, feeling oddly left behind having not said anything so far, "If we find out why we're here first – then we'll work that one out too?"

Bowtie grinned at her, "Sounds good to me! Any ideas on how, though?"

"Well, the Professor said earlier," Ace supplied, "That if we _are _in a maze, we should try getting to the centre…"

"Excellent idea, my good old self," Bowtie enthused, clapping Umbrella on the back. "Centre of the maze it is then. Only question is, which way?"

* * *

None of the Doctors could agree on a route. Diagrams of possible shapes were scribbled and torn up and there was bickering aplenty. The four women apart, each casting disapproving looks at their Doctor.

After a minute or two, Donna's gaze strayed and fixed on something else. Or rather, some_one _else. She watched her from a distance, the young blonde woman whose name she'd never heard the Doctor speak without a slight catch in his voice. Rose. She was so much more human than Donna had imagined her – seemed ordinary, far from the goddess-like image Donna now realised she'd had in her mind's eye all this time.

"Rose, right? I'm Donna." She switched on the warm smile, which was returned.

"Hi," Rose said. "You're with pinstripe, right?"

"Yep. The hyper one. And yours is the sullen leather?"

Rose grinned, "Yeah."

"He's quite nice," Donna mused, "Got a sort of…military look. Fancy a trade?"

Rose laughed, "Well, yours is quite pretty I suppose…great hair."

Donna snorted. "Skinny strip of alien nothing."

Rose laughed, and there was a pause. Donna pondered saying more, but was oh-so-conscious that she could easily mess up what was probably one of the most important parts of her best friend's timeline that she wasn't sure what she _could _say.

"Don't you just love it, though?" Rose said then. "Travelling with him?"

"Wouldn't give it up for the world," Donna answered. "Any world."

"Me neither." There was a dreamy look in the other woman's eyes now, and it saddened Donna, knowing as she did that Rose wouldn't get that choice.

Moments later, the kerfuffle on the other side of the cave ceased, and the Doctors, evidently having come to a decision, rejoined their companions. "We're going this way," Bowtie said, pointing at one of the tunnels stretching before them.

"Why?" Amy asked, out of curiosity.

"Because paper beats rock. Apparently. Can't see it myself. Well, not Earth paper. Come on then!"

* * *

Hungry. Hungry and running. Smell of fresh blood not far off, it wafts into your nostrils and the hunt is on. Closer, closer…

The prey is weak. Crack of bones as you crush it, screams of agony spur you on.

You begin to feast.

Suddenly, though, you raise your head. There are footsteps, many of them. Sounds which are words you don't understand but you know it means _food_.

You leave your half-finished meal behind and you run. There is no thrill in your chase, no adrenaline, only _hunger_, and the need to satisfy it.

Hungry. Hungry and running.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I'M BACK! You all forgot I existed, didn't you? ;) Hello. Have a chapter. And remember, both reviews and love have the same molecular structure. They are also both catalysts in a reaction known as Faster Updates. (You're all stars!)**

* * *

**FIVE**

The tunnels were getting narrower, and there was only room for two people to walk comfortably side-by-side. Amy found herself next to the Umbrella Doctor. "So, Amy, wasn't it? That's a Scottish accent I hear, hmm?"

The red-head grinned. "Yep! Scots girl through and through. So, what, did the Planet of the Time Lords have a Glasgow too?"

"No," he said, amused, "It doesn't. I never could work out why this regeneration has a different accent, but I rather like it. Besides, what's so brilliant about London, anyway?"

"Well, exactly," Amy laughed. "I think it's very dashing. So, where do you come then? Before _my_ Doctor..."

"I do believe I must be the earliest model in this collection," he replied, "I don't know any of you. Except Ace, of course. I look forward to meeting you, Miss Pond."

"It was a pleasure," Amy said. Suddenly the pair in front of her - Leather Doctor and Donna - stopped walking and she almost catapulted into them. "Why've we stopped?" she called ahead, to her own Doctor who'd been leading the way.

"Well, two reasons. One," he called back, "there's two possible directions, and two..." he paused, waiting for the rest of the group to catch up, "we've found something."

Where the tunnel forked off to the right and to the left the space was wider. Amy and the others came forward to join their 'leader'. All eyes widened at the shape on the floor. Collapsed in a heap, skeleton holding what was left of the flesh suspended, was a body, sticky with its own blood. A jeweled crown lay on the floor in front of where the head had been and a splendid red cape lay spread out over its back.

Amy's Doctor crouched down beside it, scanning it with his sonic screwdriver. "Not been dead long," he said gravely. "From his clothes it looks like he was pretty important somewhere. I wonder-"

His speech was cut short by the sound of thundering footsteps drawing closer and the same earsplitting roar they'd heard before. It was coming from the left hand tunnel, behind them. Within seconds it was almost upon them, its gigantic form in silhouette - body of a giant, wide head with curved horns. The head of a bull.

"Everyone get back!" one of the Doctors whispered urgently, shoving his friends and various selves back the way they'd come.

"Is everyone here?" Leather asked, "Rose?"

"Right next to you."

"Amy?"

"I'm here."

"Donna?" Silence. "Ace?"

The sound of loud war-whooping and shouts of "Toro! Toro!" came from the tunnel outside. Donna and Ace were standing on opposite sides, holding between them the huge red cape torn from the back of the unfortunate victim. Hollering madly and jeering, they stood their ground as the monster stopped short in the tunnel's fork.

It turned its head in the direction of the Doctors and the others, sniffing hungrily, but Donna and Ace's shouts got louder and louder and they ran towards it. A mad look flared in its huge eyes and it launched itself at the red cape, which caught on its horns as it went careering off down the tunnel, blinded, in the opposite direction.

Ace and Donna breathed out twin sighs of relief and collapsed against their respective sides of the tunnel, laughing uproariously. "That...was...brilliant!" Donna managed. "Bet you couldn't have pulled that one off, Spaceman!"

The others joined them in the tunnel as the two women were high-fiving.

"Donna, you could have been killed!" Pinstripe exclaimed.

"It would have killed us all, Doctor," Ace reasoned, "It was just about to go for you when we distracted it."

"Your fault, anyway," said Donna, "you took me to see the bullfighting in ancient Sevilla. Learned me some toreador skills! Those horns, I just thought, that thing must have some bull in it somewhere! And the cape was so red, it was worth a try to see if it would charge and leave us alone."

"You know what they say about great minds," Ace added. "We both had the same idea. And I learnt some pretty good battle cries when we landed in the middle of the Zulu War, Professor."

"Evidently," said Umbrella. "Well done, Ace. Donna."

Bowtie clapped his hands, "Yes. Trust you two. Right! Onwards, shall we?"

* * *

They took the right-hand tunnel, the one the beast had come from. "He was fooled by two women waving a big red handkerchief, he's not the brightest of bright buttons," the Doctor in the pinstripe suit had reasoned. "Which means he's not the one who got us all here - teleport needs brains. Someone sent him."

"Who would build a place like this," Ace wondered, pressing a palm against the tunnel wall and feeling its warmth again, "and then send a crazy bull-man after the guests?"

"Well, that is the question-" Pinstripe began,

The Bowtie-Doctor, ahead of them, stopped suddenly. "Say that again. Ace. What did you just say?"

She looked at him quizzically.

"Bull-man, you called it a bull-man. Why?"

She shrugged. "It had the head of a bull. But it can run on its back legs, and it..." she frowned, replaying the close-up she'd gotten of the beast in her mind's eye, "...it had hands."

"What sort of hands?"

"Human hands. Big, and hairy, but human. Not hooves, like I guess you'd expect on a bull-type-thing."

"On a bovine life form, yeah. It's a big ol' universe, but you tend to see the same patterns. It's much rarer for nature to produce a mix-matched body, two parts so unsuited to each other - which means..."

"Someone created it. A mutation, then, an experiment," Pinstripe followed.

"But why the maze?" Donna piped up.

"Think, Donna," Leather joined in, "A terrifying creature, half man, half bull. A maze. Sounds like something out of..."

"Greek mythology," Amy piped up. "Like the Argonauts and Achilles and Pandora's Box. Love me a legend."

"Aren't we the expert," Donna mumbled, but grinned at her new friend.

"We've got ourselves a Minotaur!" the bowtie Doctor summed up, "And someone's called in Theseus. Four Theseuses, in fact. Or should that be Thesei?"

"And we're all overlooking what the Doctor discovered earlier," Ace put in, nodding towards her own Doctor. "Professor?"

"I'd hardly call it a discovery, Ace, more of a deduction," said the Umbrella Doctor, "But yes. Everyone put a hand on the wall."

They did so. "It's hot," Rose observed, well aware that she was stating the obvious here but feeling it had to be said.

"This maze is producing heat. Power." Umbrella continued, "What for? Teleportation, a TARDIS materialisation magnet, and a little biology experiment on the side. You said yourself, Doctor - or did _I _say yourself? - that beast is the product of mutation."

"Our King Minos, then, is a bit of a mastermind," said Bowtie. "A mad one. They're the best kind."

"So where is he?" Donna said critically. "Hiding? Are we a bit shy?" she called.

At first there was silence, except from her own echo. But then, "Not in the least." A deep, stony voice, untinged with any emotion. Amy looked around for a speaker, anything which could be relaying the sound, but there was nothing, nor did there seem to be a source. The voice was coming from _everywhere. _

Rose reached for the hand of the nearest Doctor, figuring they were all the same anyway.

"I am cautious, that is all. Many heroes have tried and failed, but you, Doctor, you have succeeded." A sound then which would have been a chuckle were it not completely free of mirth. "Look where you are."

What had once been a dingy tunnel was suddenly lit with a brilliant light, forcing Donna to shield her eyes. She noticed then that the place where they'd stopped to chat was in fact not a tunnel at all, but a rounded cave. The floor they were standing on was not the grey rock she'd become accustomed to, but a smooth, glossy surface, in the shape of a circle.

Just as she was noticing all this, a clear glass wall slid down, exactly the shape of the circle. With a mechanical 'click' it slid into place, and suddenly Donna's world was hurtling upwards.

"Can I offer you a lift?" said the voice.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Oh, you beautiful, wonderful, patient people who are still reading this. I can't apologise enough for A) the appalling lateness or B) the probably poor quality of this chapter, but I just had to get past the block and get something _done, _else this would never have been updated. So I hope you enjoy this installment nonetheless and will keep bearing with me. And reviewing! I can't tell you how encouraging it is to know that someone is reading and wants more. Thank you, all, especially those I didn't find the time to reply to personally. Here it is, chapter 6.**

**And, since I never remember, I'll take this opportunity to say that I don't own Doctor Who, and probably never will. But I can have my fun with it nonetheless.**

**One last note: although we're going on to series 7 now, for Amy and Eleven this is still series 5 because (horror, horror) that's when I started writing this. **

* * *

**SIX**

The transition lasted only a couple of seconds, ending with a clumsy jolt, leaving the collection of Doctors and companions in an undignified heap on the floor.

As they disentangled themselves, the glass wall slid noiselessly up again, disappearing into the ceiling. The bowtied Doctor scrambled to his feet. "Great glass elevator. Bit Roald Dahl, isn't it?" He grinned. "Lovely man. He liked you, didn't he, Rose?"

Rose blushed. She was just discovering that the hand she'd grabbed the minute before belonged to the pinstriped Doctor, who was holding on rather firmly. He seemed to notice, looked bashful, and let her go. "Never met him," she mumbled.

"Oh, you will!" Bowtie exclaimed. Everyone was upright now, and he appeared to address the voice they'd heard before, "You gonna show your face, then? Not that I haven't enjoyed the mystery tour, but...y'know. Gets a bit boring after a while."

Amy gazed around at her new surroundings. The area glistened a clinical white, a pleasant contrast to the dark tunnels, but not very easy on the eye. It reminded her of the hospital where...where someone she knew once must have worked, or something. Frowning, she turned her attention back to the present.

"Come on!" the Doctor was still yelling. "Seems a bit rude not to come and greet your guests properly."

The strange voice returned. "If you insist."

In front of them, the outline of a door suddenly appeared in what had been a flat wall and it opened to reveal-

Well. A bit of a disappointment, really.

Their host was not the imposing, sinister character his voice suggested. Instead they were confronted with a small, wizened old man. His wrinkled face was sad, his posture bent.

He walked towards them. "Hello." he said, and the voice bore no resemblance at all to the one they'd heard before. He must have noticed their confused looks, because he clarified, "My intercom system has a voice-changer. It does every language and accent quite convincingly."

"Lovely," said Donna, sounding as though she didn't mean it much. "That must be very nice. But we're more interested in why we've been flippin' _kidnapped_, thanks."

The old man's face twisted into an empty smile. "Yes. I suppose I do owe you an explanation."

Donna snorted.

"Come this way."

They followed him back through the door he'd entered by, into a corridor, the decor of which wasn't quite so obtrusive. When it appeared they were in for another lengthy walk, Donna took the opportunity to have more of a chat with her fellow red-head.

"So! Amy Pond. That's a great name."

Amy grinned. "That's what the Doctor says. Never saw anything special about it myself."

"Pond, though, that's brilliant. Pond! That sticks in your mind." Donna shook her head, "Wow, I really do sound like him, don't I?"

"Well, you know what they say about dogs and their owners…" Amy quipped.

"Hey, I'll have you know, the Doctor is not my pet!" Donna laughed, "Although, the amount of people who assume we're married, you might be able to argue a case."

"_Are_ you married?" Amy asked.

"I nearly was, once," Donna told her, "Oh, but he was working for a giant spider thing. That's when I met the Doctor for the first time. How about you?"

Amy crinkled her nose, "Nah. I'm not really the marrying kind."

"Boyfriend, then?"

Amy surprised herself by actually having to consider that question. "Er, nope." There was a burning sensation behind her eyes. Why did she want to cry? It was the thing with Van Gogh all over again. She shook her head sharply. She was just being silly.

Nearer the back of the group, Rose had found her way to her Doctor's side. He didn't notice her at first, staring as he was at the floor.

"Doctor?"

The title seemed different somehow, now he wasn't the only one.

"Rose. There you are. All right?"

She nodded, "Are you?"

He didn't meet her eye, looked slightly past her. "'Course I am. I'm always all right."

She studied him critically, knowing he was lying, and also knowing she should drop it, but she had to ask. "Doctor – all those people who travel with you…" she paused, "I'm not the first, then."

He smiled almost wistfully before saying, "No. Why, jealous?"

She bit her lip. "No…"

"Liar," he said teasingly, squeezing her arm. "I don't blame you, I am to be coveted. But I think what you were saying is…you're not the last, either."

She shuffled closer to him, "I don't want to leave you, Doctor."

He looked down at her. "Time can be rewritten," he said, "It's in flux, all of it. Today, yesterday, last week in a thousand years' time. You can't focus on your own future, Rose, it might never happen."

She gave him a smile, hoping he'd buy the inference that she felt better. "I know. Come on, we're getting left behind."

As they quickened their pace to rejoin the group, they found that their mysterious guide had stopped outside a door and was keying in what was apparently a pass-code. The metal contraption fixed to the door gave a loud BEEP and the door swung open. Rose was somewhat baffled at the advanced technology in this place. It seemed completely alien to the dingy caves they'd first arrived in.

They filed in. The room they were now inhabiting appeared to be a science laboratory of some sort. A long, sleek counter ran all the way around the edge, piled high with test-tube racks, glass bottles, animal cages and a multitude of other contraptions. On one wall there was a large portrait of a man and a woman holding a baby, which looked utterly out of place.

Their wizened host stood in the centre of the room, and looked around at them. "My name is Ramus," he said, "And I need your help."

The leather-jacketed Doctor looked cynical. "If you wanted help, you could have just asked," he said. "There was no need for the obstacle course and the big hairy guard."

The old man looked distant, as if he was staring straight past them. His long, straggling white beard, Ace thought, made him look like an eery, thoroughly miserable version of Father Christmas. He had once been well dressed but the clothes were worn, threads straying, and his hands were tiny, bones protruding through the frail skin.

Suddenly he seemed to snap out of his reverie. "Yes. I apologise for the way you've been treated. It's a...game of mine, of sorts. You see, Doctor...I've been waiting so long. I've called some of the greatest, wisest men in the galaxy. I thought if they could survive the maze...and the monster...they could help."

"What, so you brought people here to meet their deaths on the off-chance they might be able to do you a favour?" Amy spluttered. "We saw the bodies in the maze. Is that gonna be us, if we can't do anything for you?"

Ramus had the decency to look slightly ashamed. "You are young," he said sorrowfully. "I remember how it felt to be young. To have such a righteous hold on justice, to know absolutely what should and shouldn't be done. But now I am old, and I have been alone for so many years. Eventually those ideas fade, and the big, bad wolf is left to rampage through the mind, to fill the silence left by everyone else. Sometimes the wires get crossed."

"Very philosophical," the pinstriped Doctor commented. Donna noted a number of tones in his voice: impatience, yes, but there was understanding too, sadness even. Thinking about it, it was all far too sentimental for her liking.

"All right, get to it, Santa," she snapped. "What do you want help with?"

Ramus opened his mouth as if to make a reply, but he was interrupted by the high-pitched ringing of alarm bells. They were quickly drowned out by a huge, ferocious roar, and a thunderous crash on the door just behind Rose, who skittered slightly further into the room.

"My experiment," Ramus finally said, and he had hardly finished uttering the last syllable when the door gave way, revealing the mighty beast. And suddenly, in those hands, those enormous, hairy but _human _hands... was Rose.


End file.
